But if there is serious injury, you are to take life for life. The lex talionis — life for life — establishes the principle of proportionality in all that follows. The penalty matches the harm: no more, no less. The principle protects both victims and accused: victims from undercompensation, accused from excessive punishment. Matthew 5:38–39 quotes this verse when Jesus says you have heard that it was said an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth, but I say to you, do not resist an evil person. Jesus does not abolish the lex talionis as a standard of justice; He calls His disciples to a posture beyond retributive justice toward voluntary non-retaliation. The two principles operate in different spheres: the law courts and personal ethics.

COMMUNITY REFLECTIONS

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